HUMS 639
Rome through the Ages
Laurie Nussdorfer
| Course Description | |
| Focusing on monuments and literature, this interdisciplinary lecture and discussion course surveys the history of the city of Rome from the founding of the Republic (509 BCE) to the height of the Baroque era around 1650, devoting roughly equal time to Rome in antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance/Baroque period. We use the story of this unique city for several purposes: to introduce the history of a specific and very resonant urban topography and its key monuments; to study celebrated literary works generated in Rome in their local context; and finally to explore the symbolic role that the city of Rome has played in European culture over two thousand years. Rome, in this course, is both a city of living people and a city of the imagination. You will develop the skills of close reading of visual and textual evidence as you follow its path through time. | |
| Course Format and Assignments | |
| All assigned reading is required and should be completed by the time of our class meeting. Our usual format will consist of a slide lecture on the site and topic for the week, followed by a short break and then a discussion of the primary source reading for the week. There will be a total of three papers and one oral report. Two of the papers (4 pp. each) will be on an assigned topic from the primary source reading and will be due in class Feb. 20 and April 3. The third paper (7-8 pp.) will utilize both the assigned primary and secondary sources and some additional library research; it will be on a particular site or monument in Rome (selected by you) and the changes it went through over the centuries we cover in the course. These papers will be due at our last class May 1, and you will each give a short illustrated oral report that evening on the site or building you have researched.
Since class discussion of primary sources is such an important part of this course, participation in discussion will also count in your final evaluation. Please note: my general policy is not to give extensions for late papers. Summary of Paper Dates: |
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| Office Hours | |
| My office is in Butterfield C 412 (the Director’s office, College of Letters). I would be happy to set up appointments at our mutual convenience. My e mail address is: lnussdorfer@wesleyan.edu. | |
| How to Obtain the Course Readings | |
| Many of the course readings (indicated by the letter P on the syllabus) are in a course packet labeled HUMS 639 that can be purchased from the Minuteman Press, 512 Main Street in Middletown (tel. 347-5700). In addition several paperback books have been ordered and are available at Broad Street Books (shelved under the course initials and number).
Books Available at Broad Street Books: J. Stambaugh, The Ancient Roman City |
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| Schedule of Lectures, Discussions, and Readings | |
| January 23 | Course Introduction
Reading: Catharine Edwards, Writing Rome (1996), chap. 1 |
| January 30 | I. Rome in Antiquity
Lecture: Early Rome |
| February 6 | Lecture: Rome under the Republic (509-44 BCE) Site: The Roman Forum Discussion: Cicero Readings: Stambaugh, The Ancient Roman City, 16-47, 101-14 P Cicero (106-43 BCE), Speeches (Against Catiline I; For Caelius |
| February 13 | Lecture: Augustun Rome (31 BCE-14 CE) Site: The Forum of Augustus Discussion: Suetonius Readings: Stambaugh, The Ancient Roman City, 48-66 P Suetonius (69 CE-c.130 CE), Life of Augustus |
| February 20 | Lecture: Rome under the Emperors (14 CE-312 CE) Site: The Pantheon Discussion: Virgil Readings: Stambaugh, The Ancient Roman City, 67-85, 213-24 Virgil (70-19 BCE), The Aeneid, Books 1, 8, 11, 12 Paper due in class on Virgil's Aeneid (4 pp.) |
| February 27 | Lecture: Early Christian Rome (312-500) Site: St. Peter's Basilica Discussion: St. Augustine Readings: P Krautheimer, Rome: Profile of a City, 21-24, 26-28, 31 P St. Augustine (354-430 AD), The City of God, Book 1 |
| March 6 | II. Rome in the Middle Ages
Lecture: Rome in the Dark Ages (500-1200) |
| SPRING VACATION | |
| March 27 | Lecture: High Medieval Rome (1200s) Site: The Lateran Discussion: Dante Readings: Keen, Penguin History of Medieval Europe, chs. 10, 12, 15 P Dante (1265-1321), On Monarchy (excerpt) and Letter VII |
| April 3 | Lecture: Late Medieval Rome Site: The Capitoline Hill Discussion: Life of Cola di Rienzo Readings: Keen, Penguin History of Medieval Europe, ch. 19 P Petrarch (1304-74), Letters Life of Cola di Rienzo (anonymous, c. 1358) Paper due in class on Life of Cola di Rienzo (4 pp.) |
| April 10 | III. Rome in the Renaissance, Counter-Reformation, and Baroque Periods
Lecture: High Renaissance Rome (1500-50) |
| April 17 | Lecture: Counter-Reformation Rome (1550-90) Site: Obelisks Discussion: Montaigne and Martin Readings: P Magnuson, Sixtus V P Michel de Montaigne (1533-92), Travel Journal P Gregory Martin (1542?-82), Roma Sancta |
| April 24 | Lecture: Baroque Rome (1600s) Site: Piazza Navona and St. Peter's Square Discussion: Shakespeare's Romans Readings: P Girourd, Cities and People, ch. 6 William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Antony and Cleopatra |
| May 1 | Student oral reports Paper due in class (7-8 pp.) |